11:20 In the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. 11:21 Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered.” 11:22 Jesus said to them, “Have faith in God. 11:23 I tell you the truth, 2 if someone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 11:24 For this reason I tell you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 11:25 Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven will 3 also forgive you your sins.”
11:26 [[EMPTY]] 411:27 They came again to Jerusalem. 5 While Jesus 6 was walking in the temple courts, 7 the chief priests, the experts in the law, 8 and the elders came up to him 11:28 and said, “By what authority 9 are you doing these things? Or who gave you this authority to do these things?” 11:29 Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question. Answer me and I will tell you by what authority I do these things: 11:30 John’s baptism – was it from heaven or from people? 10 Answer me.” 11:31 They discussed with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ 11:32 But if we say, ‘From people – ’” (they feared the crowd, for they all considered John to be truly a prophet). 11:33 So 11 they answered Jesus, 12 “We don’t know.” 13 Then Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you 14 by what authority 15 I am doing these things.”
1 tn Grk “they”; the referents (Jesus and his disciples) have been specified in the translation for clarity. Without such clarification there is room for considerable confusion here, since there are two prior sets of plural referents in the context, “the chief priests and experts in the law” and “the whole crowd” (both in v. 18).
2 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”
3 tn Although the Greek subjunctive mood, formally required in a subordinate clause introduced by ἵνα ({ina), is traditionally translated by an English subjunctive (e.g., “may,” so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV), changes in the use of the subjunctive in English now result in most readers understanding such a statement as indicating permission (“may” = “has permission to”) or as indicating uncertainty (“may” = “might” or “may or may not”). Thus a number of more recent translations render such instances by an English future tense (“will,” so TEV, CEV, NLT, NASB 1995 update). That approach has been followed here.
4 tc A number of significant
5 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
6 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7 tn Grk “the temple.”
8 tn Or “the chief priests, the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.
9 tn On this phrase, see BDAG 844 s.v. ποῖος 2.a.γ.
10 tn The plural Greek term ἀνθρώπων (anqrwpwn) is probably used here (and in v. 32) in a generic sense, referring to both men and women (cf. NAB, NRSV, “of human origin”; TEV, “from human beings”; NLT, “merely human”).
11 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.
12 tn Grk “answering, they said to Jesus.” The participle ἀποκριθέντες (apokriqentes) is redundant, but the syntax of the phrase has been modified to conform to English style.
13 sn Very few questions could have so completely revealed the wicked intentions of the religious leaders. Jesus’ question revealed the motivation of the religious leaders and exposed them for what they really were – hypocrites. They indicted themselves when they cited only two options and chose neither of them (“We do not know”). The point of Mark 11:27-33 is that no matter what Jesus said in response to their question they were not going to believe it and would in the end use it against him.
14 sn Neither will I tell you. Though Jesus gave no answer, the analogy he used to their own question makes his view clear. His authority came from heaven.
15 tn On this phrase, see BDAG 844 s.v. ποῖος 2.a.γ. This is exactly the same phrase as in v. 28.